China's largest coal-powered plant fully operational

The largest coal-fired power plant in China, equipped with four 1,000-megawatt generating units, went into operation yesterday, sources with the China Huaneng Group told Xinhua.

The first two generating units of the plant kicked off production in December 2006. The whole project, which is located in China's power-deficient Zhejiang province, cost 15.6 billion yuan (1.4 billion euros) to build.

Xinhua reported that the plant is believed to be the world's largest coal-fired power plant with "ultra-supercritical technologies," the highest global standards of the industry, the country's leading energy conglomerate said.

The same report suggested that if all coal-fueled power plants could be substituted with this type of generating units, 200 million tons of coal could be saved and 540 million tons of carbon dioxide emission could be reduced each year.

China has promised to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent and emission of major pollutants by 10 percent by 2010.

More than 70 percent of China's energy is produced by coal-fired power plants. China plans to replace small coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 50 million kilowatts by 2010.